The Belleville Three

Think to the times you’ve been on a dancefloor and heard “Big Fun,” “Strings Of Life,” “No UFOs,” “Clear” or “Good Life”. Think to the times you’ve heard music by Joey Beltram, Carl Craig, Suburban Knight, DVS1, Octave One and Blake Baxter. Think to the times you’ve heard anything taking cues from the high-energy impact of techno.

All this can be traced directly back to Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson: likeminded friends studying together through their adolescence, most notably at Belleville High School in outer Detroit, who became known to the world as The Belleville Three. Their role in contemporary culture, let alone the dance music tradition, cannot be understated.

Operating close to the cold, unforgiving climate of post-industrial Detroit, they forged their own sound in the 80s: making use of open possibilities created by new electronic tools; stitching together cassette mixes picked up and played immediately by their mythical radio idol, The Electrifying Mojo; and creating an environment, rooted around a serious philosophy of egalitarianism and independent thought, in which ‘techno’ music could flourish creatively. As a united front, they hacked a path into an as-yet-unimagined future.

By the time of house and techno’s global explosion at the turn of the 90s, The Belleville Three’s legacy had been assured. The music they made in that first wave has continued to dominate radio, clubs, and critical lists of best dance records of all time. All three started crucially important record labels – Atkins, nicknamed ‘The Originator’, with Metroplex; May, ‘The Innovator’, with Transmat; Saunderson, ‘The Elevator’, with KMS – that have brought the world countless more classics. Their assured presence on the touring circuit to this day speaks to their staying-power as DJs and producers. They are not just progenitors, but powerhouses.

In spite of all this collective history, their appearances in the same place are surprisingly sparse. The formative days of instrument-swapping and mixtape-making was placed to the side as a result of Atkins’ early start as a producer with Model 500 and Cybotron, years before May or Saunderson began in earnest. Their residencies at Detroit spots such as Shelter and The Music Institute around ’87-89 were broken by those clubs’ dissolution. Once techno became a global industry, the first wave had briefly ebbed.

In the past decade, the trio were involved in 2006 documentary High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music and a special tag-team set went down at Awakenings Festival in 2010. But these stand as outliers – Atkins, May and Saunderson have been naturally kept busy with their own projects over the years. Temporary retirements, divergent musical paths, May and Saunderson’s curatorial input in Detroit’s Movement/DEMF event, and family commitments played their part, too. Now, the time has come to return as a unit.

Pooling a remarkable combined century’s worth of expertise, experience and exposure, with the added impetus of making a definitive mark on the movement they started, and there is considerable cause for excitement for what’s to come with their imminent DJ dates, and the next chapters of The Belleville Three’s history to follow.

News

The pioneering techno trio of Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, otherwise known as The Belleville Three, have announced initial dates on their highly anticipated DJ Tour. Occurring throughout 2017, this tour marks the first time the three have embarked on a series of shows under their collective moniker.

We are delighted to announce our latest addition to Blue Raincoat Artists, Juan Atkins. Known alongside Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May as one of the Belleville Three, Atkins’ place in the history of dance music is unparalleled, heralded internationally as ‘The Originator’, one of the founding fathers of techno.

First producing in the mid 80’s under monikers Model 500 and Cybertron, Atkins achieved timeless hits with ‘No UFO’s’ & ‘Clear’. His momentum and development has endured ever since, seen in the sheer quality and breadth of his discography, including seminal works with Moritz von Oswald as Borderland.

We are thrilled to announce that The Belleville Three are our latest Blue Raincoat Artist’s signing. Emerging from the illustrious city of Detroit and consisting of Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins, they are famed for creating techno, as the 80s came to a close.

Friends at Belleville High School and mutually inspired by the synthesis of Kraftwerk and The Electrifying Mojo’s funk, soul and disco records, they began what is now a global phenomenon.

Revered on an individual basis as musicians and DJs, their impressive back catalogues, spanning a variety of aliases, demonstrates a true commitment to innovation, constantly breathing new life into the scene they fostered and sustaining their relevance within it.